The summer sun has set on Patriots training camp as head coach Jerod Mayo turns the calendar to a regular-season schedule.
The Patriots will use practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to mimic the regular season as they get prepared for the Commanders in the preseason finale. Then the Patriots will make roster cuts and get ready for their Week 1 matchup with the Bengals.
Here are 18 takeaways from four weeks of training camp practices:
1. QB competition picked up late
Let’s start off with the main event of training camp: the quarterback competition between veteran Jacoby Brissett and rookie Drake Maye. For the first two weeks of training camp, the competition we were promised didn’t surface. Then Maye forced the issue.
Maye has shown his promise as the 2024 third-overall pick since last Tuesday’s joint practice with the Eagles. He impressed before the Patriots’ backup offensive line crumbled in that session, then he shined in last Thursday’s preseason loss to the Eagles. The rookie’s confidence clearly improved, because he attempted more aggressive throws in practice Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Does this mean that Maye will start Week 1 against the Bengals? In all honesty, probably not. Maye has yet to take a first-team rep in training camp. All of those have gone to Brissett. But if Maye continues to practice well to finish off this week and then outplays Brissett in Sunday’s preseason finale against the Commanders? Well, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Maye could still win the starting job.
2. Joe Milton has shown enough for third QB spot
The other quarterback battle reached its expected conclusion: It doesn’t make a lot of sense for Bailey Zappe to be on the team in 2024. Either Brissett or Maye will start, and whoever doesn’t has certainly proven enough to be a backup to start the season. Then the Patriots have sixth-round pick Joe Milton to serve as a developmental third-string option.
Zappe had a decent camp. He’s protected the ball well and made the most of his practice snaps. But a fresh start would do both parties well. Seventy NFL quarterbacks took 25 or more snaps last season. Zappe has a better chance to get on the field with another team.
3. Competition tight at wide receiver
The Patriots ranked 32nd in multiple preseason wide receiver rankings, which doesn’t speak well to their top-end talent. But they are deep.
DeMario Douglas, Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, Tyquan Thornton and K.J. Osborn look like locks, leaving one or two roster spots for Kawaan Baker, Kayshon Boutte, Jalen Reagor and/or David Wallis. If Kendrick Bourne can get healthy by Week 1, it further complicates matters.
Kawaan Baker won’t make the team, but he made the play of the day in Sunday’s practice, catching a pass over cornerback Marcellas Dial’s helmet. Boutte has come on strong (more on that later), Reagor’s speed on offense and as a returnman is still appealing, and Wallis looks practice squad bound but has brought some excitement on returns this preseason.
4. But three starters are emerging
In recent practices, a top unit of Thornton, Polk and Douglas is emerging.
Osborn should be mixed in to the group, as well, and Bourne will likely be a starter when he comes off of the PUP list.
The new coaching staff seems to be fans of Thornton’s game. The 2022 second-round pick made the play of the day in Monday’s practice, catching a deep ball over his shoulder from Brissett with Christian Gonzalez in coverage.
5. Two positions are getting shallow
The Patriots could barely practice by Monday given all of the injuries at center and tight end. Backup center Jake Andrews is out for the season on injured reserve, and the experiment of moving guard Atonio Mafi to center has failed. Nick Leverett, now the top backup center, has missed recent practices. That’s left starter David Andrews, former CFL guard Liam Fornadel and undrafted rookie Charles Turner to snap.
At tight end, the top three players, Hunter Henry, Austin Hooper and Mitchell Wilcox, were either absent or not participating in team drills, leaving seventh-round rookie Jaheim Bell, converted wide receiver La’Michael Pettway and undrafted rookie Jacob Warren.
Injuries to Leverett, Henry and Hooper don’t seem overly serious, but Sunday’s preseason game could feature the backups.
6. Two positions bear watching on waivers
The Patriots have the third spot on waivers, meaning they’ll have the top choice of any players waived behind the Panthers and Commanders.
Two position groups to watch: offensive line and defensive line. Only eight Patriots offensive linemen have proven worthy of roster spots: David Andrews, Vederian Lowe, Chukwuma Okorafor, Mike Onwenu, Layden Robinson, Sidy Sow and Caedan Wallace. Teams typically like to keep nine or 10 players on the offensive line. So, even if players like Calvin Anderson or Michael Jordan make the initial 53-man roster, they’re not guaranteed spots past the first day.
With Christian Barmore expected out indefinitely after being diagnosed with blood clots, it’s also difficult to find five roster-able defensive tackles. Davon Godchaux, Daniel Ekuale and Jeremiah Pharms Jr. have had good summers, but the Patriots could look to waivers to see if they can do better than Trysten Hill, Mike Purcell, Sam Roberts or Armon Watts.
7. Three players remain on the PUP list
Training camp has concluded, and Bourne, guard Cole Strange and linebacker Sione Takitaki still haven’t been activated from the PUP list, meaning they haven’t practiced yet. If they aren’t activated by next Tuesday’s cutdown, then they’ll start the season on the PUP list, where they’ll remain until Week 5 at the earliest.
Boure and Strange both could be starters when healthy. Takitaki still seems like the best option to back up Ja’Whaun Bentley and Jahlani Tavai at linebacker.
8. New rule could open more roster spots
In a new rule, two players placed on injured reserve on cutdown day can be activated during the season. In the previous rule, a player had to be on the initial 53-man roster before being placed on injured reserve to be activated during the season.
The top candidates for this rule are Barmore and safety Marte Mapu. Barmore has yet to be placed on a season-ending reserve list. Mapu has been sitting out of practice since the first week of training camp.
9. Offensive line didn’t make deadline
Head coach Jerod Mayo stated earlier this summer that he wanted the starting offensive line settled before the third preseason game. That hasn’t happened.
The top unit has consisted of Lowe at left tackle, Sow at left guard, David Andrews at center, Onwenu at right guard and Okorafor at right tackle. But executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf said this week that the Patriots are still trying to figure out their best combination of offensive linemen.
Wallace and Robinson have been rotated into the starting group, with Onwenu seeing snaps at right tackle and Okorafor at left tackle.
Mayo said the Patriots are close to deciding on a group, but they’ll discuss it after the third preseason game.
10. Top candidate emerges to replace Christian Barmore
There’s been little doubt in training camp that Ekuale will replace Barmore in the Patriots’ starting defense.
Ekuale, 30, has primarily been a pass-rushing option since joining the Patriots in 2021. At 6-foot-3, 310 pounds, he has plenty of size and strength to clog the middle from Barmore’s three-technique defensive tackle spot on defense.
11. Four standouts from final weeks of camp
We asked a team source to highlight four standouts from the final weeks of training camp. The answers: David Andrews, Boutte, outside linebacker Josh Uche and undrafted rookie safety Dell Pettus.
Andrews is one of the most irreplaceable starters. Boutte has been stringing together good practices and is fighting for a roster spot. Uche will be paramount in replacing Matthew Judon after the Patriots traded the four-time Pro Bowl selection the Falcons.
And Pettus is fighting for a roster spot behind Kyle Dugger, Jabrill Peppers and Jaylinn Hawkins. He has the best chance out of any undrafted rookie to make the 53-man roster.
12. Injury could settle cornerback competition
Cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino called this the deepest group of young cornerbacks he’s coached since joining the organization in 2015. Christian Gonzalez, Jonathan Jones and Marcus Jones are making the team. Then that leaves somewhere between two and four spots left for Alex Austin, Isaiah Bolden, Marcellas Dial, Azizi Hearn, Mikey Victor, Shaun Wade and Marco Wilson.
Wade isn’t fully healthy. That could open the door for those spots to go to Austin, Bolden and Wilson.
13. Safety not a concern
It would be a surprise to see the Patriots scour the waiver wire for a safety even with Mapu still out with an injury. It sounds like the Patriots like their depth there, which includes many of the team’s cornerbacks, who can play multiple positions.
14. Kicker competition still close
Joey Slye seemed to have the leg up on his competition, Chad Ryland, after Sunday’s practice, when he went 4-of-4 and Ryland was 3-of-5. But Ryland made another push in Monday’s session when he went 3-of-4 to Slye’s 3-of-5 effort.
The stats through the entire summer, including preseason games, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss:
Slye: 36-of-44
Ryland: 35-of-43
15. Five draft picks are ascending
Maye, Polk, Robinson, Wallace and tight end Jaheim Bell finished camp on a strong note. Polk should be a starter in Week 1. There’s an outside chance that Maye, Robinson or Wallace could start, as well.
Bell should be safe for a roster spot if the Patriots trust him on special teams.
Meanwhile, Pettus and Wallis have also improved throughout the summer.
16. Two rookies are struggling
Meanwhile, it’s been a tough end to training camp for Baker and Dial.
Baker has struggled with drops and doesn’t always seem to be in the right place on offense. Dial was picked on by Eagles quarterbacks in Week 2 of the preseason and let up big catches to Kawaan Baker and Wallis in recent practices.
17. Four starters from 2023 draft class?
The Patriots made 12 picks in the 2023 NFL Draft, and it appears that four of them will be starting in Week 1: Gonzalez, defensive end Keion White, Sow and Douglas. The rest of the class consists of Mapu, Jake Andrews, Ryland, Mafi, Boutte, punter Bryce Baringer, cornerback Ameer Speed, now on the Colts, and Bolden.
There’s a world in which only five of those picks are on the initial 53-man roster. At most, there will be 10, though Mafi looks like a major longshot.
18. 2021 and 2022 draft classes are dwindling
Players drafted in 2021 and 2022 should still be on their rookie contracts. From the 2021 class, Mac Jones, Ronnie Perkins, Cameron McGrone, William Sherman and Tre Nixon are all gone, leaving Barmore, Rhamondre Stevenson and safety Joshuah Bledsoe on the current roster. Barmore and Stevenson were good picks and have already signed second contracts with the Patriots. Bledsoe is on the roster buttle.
From 2022, only Strange, Thornton, Marcus Jones, Zappe, running back Kevin Harris and Roberts remain with Jack Jones, Pierre Strong Jr., Chasen Hines and Andrew Stueber off the team. Strange will almost certainly start off on PUP, while Thornton and Jones look like starters. Harris looks like the Patriots third running back, while Zappe will likely be cut or traded.
